Will Brownsberger — State Senator, Democrat, 2d Suffolk and Middlesex District

The single payer amendment came to a vote this afternoon during the first day of debate on the Senate health care bill. After a vigorous debate, the Senate voted it down in a roll call with 15 voting yes (including me) and 22 voting no. This was a much stronger showing than had previously been [...]

A very positive element in the Senate health care cost control legislation is the creation of a Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund. I strongly support the creation of this fund because it will support cost-effective community-based prevention.

During the health care debate, there will be an important conversation on Single Payer health care reform. I do broadly support Single Payer health care and I am cautiously optimistic that the legislation before the Senate will move us in the right direction.

After over a year of hearings and discussions, the House and Senate have both released global health care cost control bills. The highest level institutions in Boston – government, business, major hospitals and insurers – are all deeply engaged in the conversation about the options.

The Senate President’s Office released S. 2660, the Health Care Reform Bill.

Q: If health insurance is something one can buy, why not let people buy what insurance they want? A: To call it insurance is a misleading misnomer. Since sickness befalls everyone sooner or later, unlike house fires or auto accidents, we are not protecting ourselves against an event which usually affects other people. The term [...]

  Complex system requires complex changes Consumer involvement needed, perhaps through tiered plans Standardization and transparency in price and quality reporting needed Coordinated care, medical homes, bundled payments—all mean rewarding value and outcomes rather than services IT is critical A slow transition is needed     In June, the Department of Healthcare Finance and Policy [...]

The Governor has signed the budget, making no spending changes and relatively few changes in “outside sections.” He did send back the municipal health care reform provisions with four narrow changes.

Highlights of the final budget include good local aid results, strong municipal health reform, limited spending with no new taxes, moderate reforms of the public counsel system and relatively good funding for a number of high priority human services.

Analysis of the Attorney General’s report: Examination of Health Care Cost Trends and Cost Drivers Pursuant to G.L. c. 118G, § 61?2(b) Report for Annual Public Hearing June 22, 2011   Wide disparities in healthcare payments exist that are not due to variations in quality Simply changing to global payments does not reduce costs More [...]

Hearing was the first of several Bill would change healthcare payments and organizations Everyone “pro” cost control, but some details at issue Providers concerned with over-regulation, lack of flexibility Others want public-option, public wellness provisions Committee concerned with cost estimates and funding     The joint committee on healthcare finance held its first hearing regarding [...]

  Summary Massachusetts already has several levels of limits on malpractice suits and damages Pretrial tribunals Caps on non-economic damages Caps on attorney’s fees Malpractice rates set by the Insurance Commissioner Pretrial tribunals are not a significant barrier to pursuing a suit The amount of bond necessary to move forward is too low and has [...]

Hi Will: I wanted to write to you about what I consider a disturbing trend in the medical insurance industry. A number of health plans are placing physicians into tiers based one mostly there cost to treat a particular common diagnosis. The plans are supposed to include quality of care as well but have not [...]

The practical potential for reducing health care costs by eliminating insurance mandates is less than commonly believed.

Stuart Altman, Connie Horgan and Michael Doonan from Brandeis came to the state house this week to hold an informal discussion about health care cost control with legislators and staff.

It isn’t clear that major state legislation is needed to advance experimentation with new health care cost-control models in Massachusetts. It may be primarily within the proper role of the executive branch to collaborate with federal Medicare and Medicaid administrators and move forward.

I attended an information session on health care reform ran by Representative Hogan, Jessica Constantino of AARP and Deb Thompson of the PASS Group (Public Advocacy and Support Strategies) a couple of weeks ago. The material that was handed out and the presentation given were very informative, and I thought what I learned could be useful to constituents, especially for senior citizens and those on Medicare.

What is the status of the health insurance bill?  I remain very concerned that this will be done in a way that allows municipalities to make unilateral changes in negotiated labor agreements — I gather that such a power is in fact a provision of the Senate bill, but NOT of the House bill.

I’ve recently received a number of emails like the one appearing below urging me to contact local hospitals to push them to adopt infection control protocols. If anyone wants to take the lead in thinking through how it would be effective to advance this issue in Massachusetts, I’d be delighted to hear from them.

Where do you stand on reestablishing the funding for legal immigrants’ healthcare insurance?